On Wednesday, the Las Vegas Raiders held their first training camp practice. The practice came one day after former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Michael Gallup chose to retire from the NFL after spending a few months with Las Vegas.
The Las Vegas Raiders have some excitement on offense
The Raiders have a few key developments to watch during training camp in Antonio Pierce’s first season as the full-time head coach. There is a lot of hype surrounding first-round pick Brock Bowers. While the Raiders have plenty of pass-catching weapons to make AFC West defenses nervous, no one has a clue who will throw those receivers the ball in Week 1.
One of the league’s most interesting storylines in training camp will be the quarterback battle between Gardner Minshew and Adian O’Connell. Both quarterbacks struggled to learn new offensive coordinator Luke Getsy’s offense this spring.
Aidan O’Connell has the momentum
As previously discussed on LVSN, some beat writers think O’Connell has the momentum for the QB1 job after OTAs:
Fortunately for the Raiders, O’Connell could take a significant leap during training camp. Vic Tafur with The Athletic wrote that O’Connell has momentum before training camp. Tafur thinks the Raiders would not have signed Minshew if they knew how O’Connell was going to prepare for the 2024 season:
O’Connell had some momentum going during the team’s spring workouts, and maybe he can pick that up again when training camp starts. He can make all the throws and has a little swagger to him this year. I don’t think the Raiders would’ve given Minshew $15 million guaranteed in March if they knew O’Connell was going to get in better shape and have a real air of confidence this spring. But they did, so we’re going to battle.
Highlights from Day 1 of the Las Vegas Raiders training camp
Here is a quick recap of how Day 1 of training camp went for the Raiders, courtesy of beat writers covering the practice.
Per Tashan Reed of The Athletic, the Raiders offense didn’t show very much on Wednesday.
The #Raiders largely worked on individual, group and special teams drills today. There was only one period where the offense and defense faced off and that was mostly comprised of quick, short passes. Light day to ease the guys into things.
— Tashan Reed (@tashanreed) July 24, 2024
Per Vincent Bonsignore with Raiders Nation, Minshew and O’Connell looked “solid” during their light workout on Wednesday.
A lot of short/intermediate pass game work today for @Raiders in 11 on 11 period, but both Aidan O’Connell and Gardner Minshew looked solid. TE’s played big part of the period.
— Vincent Bonsignore (@VinnyBonsignore) July 24, 2024
Vic Tafur with The Athletic posted a video of Bowers catching a pass during a drill.
— Vic Tafur (@VicTafur) July 24, 2024
Per Sean Zittel, Maxx Crosby and Christian Wilkins started training camp looking like they’re on a mission for the 2024 season.
First workout on the first day of minicamp and Maxx Crosby and Christian Wilkins are already going 100 MPH.
🎥: By @Sean_Zittel pic.twitter.com/aY3pbcxQaQ
— Vegas Sports Today (@VegasSportsTD) July 24, 2024
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